Not Joining Politics: IPS R S Praveen Kumar

Senior IPS officer R S Praveen Kumar, who was the Secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society and the Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, resigned from his post yesterday.

"After 26 years of serving the motherland as an IPS officer, I have applied today for voluntary retirement to pursue my passion for social justice and equality with more vigour at my own pace. I thank you all for standing by me throughout my career (sic)," he had announced on Twitter.

Kumar today clarified that he did not have any interest in entering politics at this juncture of his life. However, he quickly added that there was nothing wrong in doing so, noting that it would be wrong to think that "the entire existing socio-economic system" could be changed through only politics.

The senior official explained that he had not yet taken any decisions about his life after retirement, and added that he would announce his decision in the next couple of days.

Since his retirement comes ahead of the Huzurabad by-election, many had been left speculating whether he would be roped in by any parties to contest for the seat. Putting such speculation to rest, the official clarified that he would not be contesting for the seat as a TRS candidate.

Talking about Telangana's political clime, Kumar opined, "The state will soon have a new revolution in its politics. The weaker sections of society have suffered immensely in the last seventy or eighty years. I will fight for the rights of those oppressed classes and to implement the visions of leaders like Phule, B R Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. It is my dream to see children of every section of society develop. For now, I can say that I will begin my post-retirement journey from Adilabad."

Friends of Kumar, however, maintain that he is likely to soon enter mainstream politics. His tweet too went viral, and led to much speculation and many netizens claimed that the IPS officer would join the TRS.